MECH 346

Lecture 3
Introduction continued

Overview
• Last Day I tried to place heat transfer in
the context of thermofluids, and in
particular how thermodynamics,heat
transfer and fluid mechanics relate
• Today:
– Introduction to the Electric Resistance
Analogy
– Introduction to Convection
– Introduction to Radiation

1
 Conduction

k
T1
qx

T2

Electric Resistance Analogy

R Rt
i qx
E1 E2 T1 T2

2
 Convection
• Energy transfer due to the macroscopic motion
of fluid particles superimposed on conduction in
the fluid
• Imagine still air over a flat plate. If there is no air
motion then heat transfer will be by conduction
only and we will have a linear temperature
distribution.
• If we now blow air over the plate a momentum
and thermal boundary layer will develop.

• At the plate surface , the air velocity is

zero and the heat transfer is by conduction
only. As we move up (+y) from the plate,
the air now has a finite velocity and is
carried in the +x direction, along with its
heat energy.
• Convection is described by Newton’s Law
of Cooling, qconv = hA(Ts – Tref)

3
• h is a proportionality constant between the
temperature difference and the heat flux.
It is called the convection coefficient. Note
that the temperature difference is simply a
difference between two reference
temperatures chosen to characterize your
problem.
• q’’ [W/m2] Æ h [W/m2K]

• Imagine now a heated plate in stagnant

air. Will the air remain stagnant?
• No, density is a function of T, and hot air
will experience a buoyancy force Æ
Natural (free) convection.

• When we blow the fluid, the convection

process is called forced convection.

4
• Convection coefficients in W/m2K
• Free convection
– Gas 2 -25
– Liquid 50-1000
• Forced convection
– Gas 25-250
– Liquid 100-20000
• Convection with phase change 250-
100000 (hfg: heat of vapourization [kJ/kg]

• Thermal resistance due to convection

• Rt,conv = 1/hA

5
 Radiation
• Consider now a heated plate placed in a
vacuum
• Radiation is emitted by all surfaces as a
consequence of electrons changing from
higher energy states to lower energy
states. The difference in energy is given
off as electromagnetic radiation.
• Heat energy or thermal radiation is one
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum

• Emissive power Æ the rate at which energy is

released per unit area. The maximum possible
emission is that from a “black body” and is given
by the Stefan-Boltzman law